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Textile and Fashion Arts Highlights

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The MFA has been collecting textiles since it opened in the 1870s, and in 1930 a separate Textile Department with dedicated curatorial staff was formed. Today, the Textile and Fashion Arts collection includes magnificent examples from ancient times through the present day, from cultures throughout the world. Mind-bogglingly complex ancient Peruvian weavings, the finest Persian carpets, luxurious Italian Renaissance velvets, dramatic Japanese Noh play costumes, and twentieth-century couture by designers like Geoffrey Beene are just a few of the treasures that can be found here.

Man's mantle and two border fragments

Description

Black wool ground with design worked in wool of bird impersonators with elaborate wings, fringed capes, headdresses, and snakes, carrying ceremonial staffs and trophy heads. The colors (crimson, pink, blue, dark green, yellow and grayish green) are used in four different combinations of color in the figures. Unfinished rectangles in each corner show similar figures on an embroidered golden brown ground.

Provenance

Excavated by Julio C. Tello, Lima [see note 1]; By 1916, sold by Tello to Denman Waldo Ross [see note 2]; 1916, gift of Ross to the MFA. (Accession date: February 3, 1916)
NOTES:
[1] Tello, a Peruvian archaeologist, excavated the fragments "found in a cemetery three or four miles south of Pisco", according to a November 21, 1917 letter from Sarah G. Flint.
[2] Ross purchased the textile fragments from Tello between December 27, 1915 and January 8, 1916. See Anne Paul's "Paracas Art & Architecture: Object and Context in South Coastal Peru". Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991. Appendix 1.1 Paracas Textiles Known to Be in Collection before 1925, pg. 33.

Credit Line

Denman Waldo Ross Collection

Details

Dimensions

Overall (a): 101 x 244.3 cm (39 3/4 x 96 3/16 in.)

Accession Number

16.34a-c

Medium or Technique

Wool plain weave, embroidered with wool

Not On View

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Classifications

Neck ornament

Found in EgyptLate Antique Period3rd-4th century A.D.(?)

Findspot: Egypt

Description

Ground of dark brownish purple wool; deisgn of green, red and brown wool, natural-colored linen and gold wrapped silk; consists of two squares, one slightly larger than the other, connected by two bands; the larger square represents dolphins and marine deities, including nereids, erotes and a triton; the square panel at the other end shows a sea creature holding a rudder; the two bands display jewel-like motifs and three heads in each band; the central head, crowned by wreaths, probably represents Dionysus.

Provenance

By 1946, Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris; 1946, sold by Mallon to the MFA for $22,500 [see note 1]. (Accession date: May 9, 1946)
NOTES:
[1] 46.401 and 46.402 were purchased together for this price.

Accession Number

Medium or Technique

Not On View

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Fragment with wrestling lions and harpies

Spanish (probably Almería)AlmoravidEarly 12th century

Object Place: possibly Almería, Spain

Description

Fragment of shroud believed to have been part of the shroud of a bishop of Burgo de Osma. Design of pairs of lions attacking human-headed birds within circles connected by smaller circles containing inscriptions, woven with red, green, and light brown silk (weft) and gold thread (brocaded). The inscription has been translated by R. Guest as follows “This was made in the town of Baghdad, may God guard it.”

Provenance

Said to come from the tomb of bishop San Pedro de Osma (d. 1109) in the Cathedral of Burgo de Osma, Spain [see note 1]. 1933, Herman A. Elsberg (b. 1869 - d. 1938), New York; 1933, sold by Elsberg to the MFA for $14,500 [see note 2]. (Accession date: March 7, 1933)
NOTES:
[1] See Adele Coulin Weibel, Two Thousand Years of Textiles (New York: Pantheon, 1952), p. 96, cat. no. 66.
[2] Purchased with MFA 33.372 for $14,500.

Accession Number

Medium or Technique

Not On View

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Tapestry: Wild Men and Moors

German (probably Strasbourg, Alsace)about 1440

Object Place: Possibly Strasbourg, Alsace, Germany

Description

Series of scenes (left to right), wild men attacking Moors in castle, wilk men fighting with lion, dragon, and unicorn, and wild men carrying food to wild woman with two children seated at foot of rocks; stylized trees, plants, rocks; stylized trees, plants, rocks; pinkish-red background covered with roses in two shades of pinkish-red, frames by diamond lattice formed by links of chain, blue, darker blue, and white. In lower part of tapestry, right half, a shield divided horizontally, upper half yellow with two red roses with blue conters, lower half black (Blümel, Alsace), same arms appear as manteling on helmet lower center of tapestry. On far right helmet surmounted by ibex horn with mantling red with two white stars (Zorn, Strassburg). Human faces woven without features, which are painted, possibly originally embroidered, some embroidery stitches survive. Weaving finished so back and face almost identical, except for faces. Colors include very dark blue (almost black), several shades of blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, red, and grayish violet.

Provenance

First half of the 19th century, probably Wilhelm Dettelbach, Gailingen, near Konstanz, Germany [see note 1]; probably sold by Dettelbach to the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; by 1874, kept at the Fürstlich Hohenzollernsches Museum, Sigmaringen, Germany [see note 2]; 1928, sold, upon the dispersal of the collection under the direction of the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, to Ottmar Strauss (b. 1878 - d. 1941), Cologne [see note 3]; deposited at the Commerzbank, Cologne, where it remained for the duration of World War II [see note 4]; 1954, sold by Paul Weiden on behalf of Westra, A.G., Basel, to Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York [see note 5]; 1954, sold by Rosenberg and Stiebel to the MFA for $95,000. (Accession Date: December 9, 1954)
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Peter Kempf, Director, Fürstlich Hohenzollernsches Museum to Jean-Michel Tuchscherer of the MFA (September 25, 1984).
[2] See F. A. Lehner, Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sches Museum zu Sigmaringen: Verzeichnis der Textilarbeiten (Sigmaringen, 1874), p. 4, cat. no. 2.
[3] Georg Swarzenski, "Der Verkauf der Sigmaringer Sammlung," Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 11/12 (1928-1929): 277. The tapestry was exhibited at the Städel in 1928; see Kurzes Verzeichnis der im Staedelschen Kunstinstitut ausgestellten Sigmaringer Sammlungen (Frankfurt, 1928), p. 100, cat. no. 1125.
[4] See Elfi Pracht, "Ottmar Strauss: Industrieller, Staatsbeamter, Kunstsammler," Menora: Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte 1994, p. 69, n. 50. Before fleeing Germany for Switzerland in 1936, Strauss sold most of his art collection in a series of auctions in Frankfurt. This tapestry, however, remained in his possession. Hermann Göring was interested in acquiring the work, but it remained in a Cologne bank vault throughout the Nazi era.
[5] At his death, Strauss bequeathed the tapestry to his grandson, Stephan Kronenberg (see Pracht 1994, as above, n. 4). When the tapestry was sold in 1954, it was through the family's company; Westra had been founded as the Ottmar Strauss Corporation in 1950. Strauss's son, Ulrich, was president; Paul Weiden was his attorney.

Provenance

Originally with a member of the Wodehouse family, Kimberley, Norfolk, England [see note 1]. Early 20th century, purchased at Acton Surrey, Bond Street, London by Elizabeth Day McCormick (b. 1873 - d. 1957), Chicago [see note 2]; 1943, gift of McCormick to the MFA. (Accession date: October 14, 1943)
NOTES:
[1] Possibly worn by Grizell Wodehouse (d. 1635), the wife of Sir Philip Wodehouse. According to family legend, the jacket belonged to Queen Elizabeth and was given as a gift when she visited the Kimberly estate in 1578 for the knighting of Roger Wodehouse (d. 1588), Phillip's father. (See the "Elizabethan Inventories" by Leonard G. Bolingbroke, pg. 93; also, G. Townsend, MFA Bulletin, vol. XL, no. 238, April 1942, pg. 25-36). There is no evidence, however, that this provenance is true, particularly since the garment probably dates to after the queen's death.
[2] According to a December 14th, 1941 letter from Elizabeth Day McCormick to Gertrude Townsend, the garment was said to be part of the "Kimberley Collection."

Hunting carpet

Rug

Description

Scenes of hunting and feasting on this carpet reflect the pastimes of the Safavid court. The size of the carpet, the use of the silk throughout, and the exquisite workmanship (up to 810 knots per square inch) suggest that it was made for Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–1576). Its rich pictorial patterns are thought to have been designed by the leading painters at the Safavid court.

In the central medallion, highlighted with metallic threads, is a combat between dragons and phoenixes, a motif which reflects Chinese influence on Persian art. Within the blossoming vines of the surrounding field, novice hunters attack rabbits with clubs while more skilled hunters kill deer and antelope with spears and swords or battle lions barehanded.

The relaxed atmosphere of the border design contrasts with the violent activity of the carpet’s center. Richly dressed courtiers eat and drink and, as described in Persian poetry, discuss the day’s hunting adventures.

Provenance

19th century, Torrigiani family, Florence; 1870s, sold by the Marchese Torrigiani to Stefano Bardini (b. 1836 - d. 1922), Florence [see note 1]; between 1877 and 1892, sold by Bardini to Adolphe de Rothschild (b. 1823 - d. 1900), Paris; by inheritance to his grand-nephew, Maurice de Rothschild (b. 1881 - d. 1957), Geneva. Between 1957 and 1966 acquired, probably from the Rothschild family, by Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York; 1966, sold by Rosenberg and Stiebel to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 13, 1966)
NOTES:
[1] Bardini offered the carpet to Wilhelm von Bode as early as 1877; this information was first provided to the MFA by Thomas J. Farnham, and the letter has been published by Valerie Niemeyer Chini, Stefano Bardini e Wilhelm Bode (Florence, 2009), p. 222, letter XV.11 (June 27, 1877); also see pp. 97-98. The carpet was in the Rothschild collection by 1892; see Wilhlem von Bode, Altpersische Knüpfteppiche (Berlin, 1892), p. 13. Bode later published Vorderasiatische Knüpfteppiche aus alter Zeit (Leipzig, 1902), noting (on p. 10) that about 25 years earlier, the Marchese Torrigiani had sold the carpet to Bardini for 150 francs, and that Bardini subsequently sold it to Rothschild for 30,000 francs.

Credit Line

Museum purchase with funds from the Centennial Purchase Fund, John Goelet, and unrestricted textile purchase funds

Not On View

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Classifications

Noh costume (atsuita)

Description

Noh theater robe for a male role (atsuita) with a green ground and overall design of peonies in light green, orange, pale blue, pale yellow and brown silk and undulating vertical lines (tatewaku) in white silk supplemental weft patterning. There is a reddish-orange plain-weave silk lining.

Provenance

Kuroda of Fukuoka Collection. By 1915, Yamanaka & Co., New York; 1915, sold by Yamanaka to the MFA, through William Sturgis Bigelow, Boston, [see note 1] for $7500 [see note 2]. (Accession date: October 7, 1915)
NOTES:
[1] Bigelow arranged the transaction and transport of the costumes on behalf of the MFA.
[2] No. 13 on Yamanaka & Co. object list. Part of Yamanaka's "Complete Set" of Noh Isho and Men dresses (accession no. 15.1146 - 15.1164), purchased as a group for $7500. Costumes from the Hirose Collection were also purchased from Yamanaka & Co. at this time (accession no. 15.1165 - 15.1178), the total sale $9,969.25.

Credit Line

William Sturgis Bigelow Collection and Julia Bradford Huntington James Fund

Accession Number

Medium or Technique

Not On View

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Classifications

Embroidered overmantel with original frame

AmericanColonial1745–50Embroidered by Eunice Bourne (born in 1732, died between 1773 and 1781)

Object Place: Boston, New England colonies, New England colonies

Description

Embroidered overmantel with three scenes: spinning lady, fishing lady, and strolling couple. Worked in polychrome wool and silk in tent and knot stitches, with glass beads and metallic yarn. Original frame, wooden slats dividing scenes missing.

Provenance

1745-1750, with Mercy Gorham (b. 1695 - d. 1782), Barnstable, MA [see note 1]; 1782, by descent through the family [see note 2]; 1921, Miss Perdie E. Phinney [see note 3]; 1921, sold by Phinney to the MFA for $600. (Accession date: October 6, 1921)
NOTES:
[1] Eunice Bourne (b. 1732 - d. 1773-1781), Barnstable, was the daughter of Mercy Gorham and Col. Sylvanus Bourne (b. 1694 - d. 1763). The piece remained in her mother's house after her marriage to Capt. John Gallison (b. 1731 - d. 1786) in 1754 with whom she had thirteen children.
[2] In 1782, Mercy Gorham probably willed the work to one of Eunice's daughters. According to the 1888 "Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families", Ed. C.F. Swift: "To her granddaughter Abigail Gallison, her mother's work, called a chimney piece." (pg. 117)
[3] According to the MFA object card, Miss Phinney was a distant relative of Eunice Bourne. The "Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families" notes that several paintings once owned by Sylvanus Bourne were in the possession of his ancestor, Major Sylvanus. B. Phinney. (pg. 118)

Accession Number

Medium or Technique

Not On View

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Ceremonial hanging (palepai)

Ship cloth

Indonesian (Sumatran)Dutch colonial rulemid-19th century

Object Place: Southern Sumatra (Lampong region), Indonesia

Description

Long, rectangular cotton cloth with design elements created by discontinuous supplementary weft patterning; primary design is of a pair of red ships with arching bow and stern, hulls decorated with yellow, blue, white spots and medallions, three architectural enclosures or shrines on deck which enclose human figures, leopards and buffalo, a single row of human and animal figures below deck; background motifs include fish and umbrellas.

Palepai, or ship cloths, are ritual textiles which represent a belief in the concept of a “ship of the dead,” that would carry souls away to the afterlife. Palepai were traditionally displayed at rite of passage ceremonies.

Provenance

By 1980, in the collection of the Martin and Ullman Artweave Textile Gallery, New York; purchased from Artweave Gallery by the MFA (Accession date: April 16, 1980)

Collections

Classifications

Woman's evening dress

Description

Evening dress in two parts. Bodice and most of skirt of white satin with self figure of broad ribbon serpentines with crossing sprays of highly decorative flowers and fruit including pomegranate; bodice with low rounded neck in front, lower edge cut in tabs, sleeves elbow length with white chiffon forming top slightly puffed portion; skirt front of white satin cut straight with flounce of knife pleats along bottom edge, fullness of skirt at back in soft pleats, pleated puffs on side, bows of white satin finished with tassels of silk and artificial pearls, artificial pearl fringe along front edges of overskirt. Some additional trimming originally on dress, but now missing.

Provenance

Purchased in Paris between 1858 - 1861 by the parents of Fanny Crowninshield, (Mrs. John Quincy Adams II), (1839 - 1911), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, by descent to her daughter, Mrs. Robert Homans, Boston; 1946, gift of Mrs. Homans to MFA [see note 2]. (Accession date: February 14, 1946)
NOTES:
[1] See "Fashion Show: Paris Style," Boston: MFA, 2006, pg. 59-60.
[2] In 1943, the MFA received eleven dresses from Mrs. Homans which were originally worn by her mother. Two, (including this example), were designed by Mme. Roger, Paris, the other nine by the House of Worth, Paris.

This extraordinary quilt was created by Harriet Powers, an African American woman who was born a slave in Georgia in 1837. Powers is thought to have orally dictated a description of each square of her quilt to Jennie Smith, who had purchased the first quilt Powers made, and arranged for it to be exhibited at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta in 1895. This second quilt is thought to have been commissioned by a group of “faculty ladies” at Atlanta University, and given (together with Powers’s descriptions) as a gift to a retiring trustee. What follows is Powers’ descriptions of all fifteen blocks starting in the upper left and moving to the right.

FIRST ROW:

1. Job praying for his enemies. Job crosses. Job’s coffin.

2. The dark day of May 19, 1780. The seven stars were seen 12 N. in the day. The cattle wall went to bed, chickens to roost and the trumpet was blown. The sun went off to a small spot and then to darkness.

3. The serpent lifted up by Moses and women bringing their children to look upon it to be healed.

4. Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve tempted by the serpent. Adam’s rib by which Eve was made. The sun and the moon. God’s all-seeing eye and God’s merciful hand.

5. John baptizing Christ and the spirit of God descending and resting upon his shoulder like a dove.

SECOND ROW:

6. Jonah cast over board of the ship and swallowed by a whale. Turtles.

7. God created two of every kind, male and female.

8. The falling of the stars on Nov. 13, 1833. The people were frightened and thought that the end had come. God’s hand staid the stars. The varmints rushed out of their beds.

9. Two of every kind of animal continued…camels, elephants, “gheraffs,” lions, etc.

10. The angels of wrath and the seven vials. The blood of fornications. Seven-headed beast and 10 horns which arose of the water.

THIRD ROW:

11. Cold Thursday, 10 of February, 1895. A woman frozen while at prayer. A woman frozen at a gateway. A man with a sack of meal frozen. Icicles formed from the breath of a mule. All blue birds killed. A man frozen at his jug of liquor.

12. The red light night of 1846. A man tolling the bell to notify the people of the wonder. Women, children and fowls frightened by God’s merciful hand caused no harm to them.

13. Rich people who were taught nothing of God. Bob Johnson and Kate Bell of Virginia. They told their parents to stop the clock at one and tomorrow it would strike one and so it did. This was the signal that they had entered everlasting punishment. The independent hog which ran 500 miles from Georgia to Virginia, her name was Betts.

14. The creation of animals continues.

15. The crucifixion of Christ between the two theives. The sun went into darkness. Mary and Martha weeping at his feet. The blood and water run from his right side.

Provenance

About 1895-1898, Dr. Charles Cuthbert Hall (1852-1908), New York [see note 1]; 1908, by inheritance to his son, Reverend Basil Douglas Hall (b. 1888 - d. 1979), New York; between November 2, 1960 and February 7, 1961, sold by Hall to Maxim Karolik (b. 1893 - d. 1963), Boston; 1964, bequest of Karolik to MFA. (Accession date: May 13, 1964)
NOTES:
[1] Commissioned and purchased for Hall, President of the Union Theological Seminary in New York, by the faculty ladies of Atlanta University where he had served as chairman of the board of trustees.

Provenance

1892, commissioned by Mrs. J. Monro Longyear (nee Mary Hawley Beecher, d. 1931), Marquette, MI [see note 1]; 1933, sold at Longyear's estate auction by Pierce S. Haley Appraiser and Auctioneer, Boston, MA, lot 4 under section "Draperies," to Mr. J. S. Gordon, Brookline, MA [see note 2]; by descent to Myron K. and Natalie G. Stone, New York; gift of the Stones in memory of J. S. and Sadye Z. Gordon (Accession date: March 9, 1983)
NOTES:
[1] In 1903, Mrs. Longyear moved her household in its entirety to Brookline, MA, at which point this embroidery came to MA. See "Early Modern Textiles: From Arts and Crafts to Art Deco," Marianne Carlano and Nicola J. Shilliam, MFA Publications, 1993, pg. 19, for a full description of provenance and a picture of the embroideries hanging in the Longyear home in 1909.
[2] Copy of original auction catalogue and bill of sale in curatorial file.

Credit Line

In memory of J. S. and Sayde Z. Gordon from Myron K. and Natalie G. Stone

Not On View

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Classifications

Panel from bedcover

Description

Polychrome wool embroidered on linen. Scene depics God and four angels looking down on the pursuits of the artist’s family on sea and land. Includes two figures on large sail boat below large fish. Other scenes of figures in landscape. SIGNED: MADE FOR HELEN HOOPER BROWN AND LATHROP BROWN IN THE YEARS 1925-1925 BY MARGUERITE ZORACH. Condition: Good, linen slightly soiled, especially top edge; tack holes around edges.

Provenance

About 1925-28, commissioned by Mrs. Lathrop Brown (Helen Hooper Brown), Boston [see note 1]. By about 1982, with Maddie Sadofski of Thanks For the Memories shop, Los Angeles, CA [see note 2]; sold by Sadofski to the MFA (Accession date: June 24, 1992)
NOTES:
[1] According to undated notes in the curatorial file. The bedspread originally had three additional side panels, which were cut off at an unknown date (possibly by the artist), but definitely after 1930, when the piece was published intact in "The Embroideries of Marguerite Zorach," Marya Mannes, International Studio, March 1930, pp. 29-33 (location not specified). Two of the side panels were joined to make 1992.351.
[2] According to Tessim Zorach (the artist's son), the bedspread was not in the inventory of Zorach items in Mrs. Lathrop Brown's collection, which encompassed pieces "in a warehouse in New York for about 30 years." It is unclear when this inventory was completed. Further notes indicate that Sadofski had purchased 1992.351-352 about ten years before acquisition by the MFA.